Odyssey Medical tripling size with Bartlett move

Odyssey Medical, Inc., is preparing for a move to a Bartlett facility that will more than triple its current space.

The company is now located in a 12,000-square-foot facility in the Shelby Oaks office park. Its new home at 2957 Brother Blvd. is a 40,000-square-foot facility. The move is planned for the end of October.

Odyssey is segmented into two groups. Its premier product is the Parasol Punctal Occluder, a plug for the eye’s drainage duct. The plug is about the size of a grain of sand and Odyssey sells it under its brand name.

The other is a contract medical device manufacturing segment. The company specializes in microsurgical implants and is known for a tiny titanium screw that is used in head and neck surgeries. Growth in this division prompted the move.

“We are desperate for this move,” says Odyssey president and co-owner Gary Tatge. “The main reason we need to move is so we can put in more machines, expand our capabilities and hire more employees.

“Also, part of the problem of being out of space is that you have no increased production capacity.”

Tatge says annual growth in the spinal division has averaged 30%. That number has flattened a bit, he says, as the company simply has no place for new equipment or employees. Odyssey now has 10 machines that cost from $200,000 to $350,000.

Tatge says he has two more machines ordered, but has to wait on delivery until they are in the new location. Once the machines are in place, Tatge says Odyssey will hire 5-7 new employees. The Brother Boulevard location will allow capacity for up to 30-40 machines.

“Spinal is a boom market right now,” Tatge says. “We think the move to Bartlett will well position us not only with the Memphis spinal companies, but with companies across the U.S.”

The company’s new building was leased by Swedish medical contract manufacturer Sandvik Medical Solutions. That company entered the space after it purchased a division of Medtronic Spinal & Biologics once housed there. Sandvik has since moved its headquarters to a facility near the airport.

Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce president John P. Threadgill says the life science sector there continues to grow.

“Odyssey’s move to Bartlett is just another indication of the synergies that are taking place in Bartlett and the Northeast Corridor,” Threadgill says.

He claims that growth is primarily due to Bartlett’s location, work force and entrepreneurial spirit.

When Odyssey started in 1995, it had rights to the Parasol occluder and also made other microsurgical devices. Since then, the company has become a market leader in its “niche ophthalmic market,” says co-owner Barbara Tatge. Plugs likes Odyssey’s are used to prevent dry eye syndrome. Basically, the plug prevents moisture from draining out of the eye.